Instant Pot Gormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew with Beef)

This recipe for Instant Pot Gormeh Sabzi serves up the classic Persian herb stew without waiting all day for it to be ready. This post does include affiliate links.

If there is one dish that is quintessential Persian, it is Khoreshteh Gormeh Sabzi, an herb stew made with parsley, cilantro, green onions and fenugreek. Not only is it incredibly aromatic, but it is so ridiculously delicious.

My family and I literally fight over the last bit of leftover stew and who is going to get it. So needless to say, I make gormeh sabzi quite often.

As much as I love eating gormeh sabzi, I won’t lie. It’s labor-intensive and takes all day to cook. There’s the vegetables to clean and chop, then the stewing of the meat, the sautéing of the vegetables, and basically simmering all day to let the flavors melt together.

So when I do make it, I make a massive amount of stew so we can enjoy it over and over again.

Even though I’m a stay-at-home mom and technically have all day to get the stew made, I still wish I could speed the process up a bit. I am a very impatient woman. I figured this was the perfect job for my Instant Pot.

Are you part of the Instant-Pot fan club? All of my friends have been asking me about it and what I think of it. I have a confession. My 6-quart Instant Pot sat in its box for over six months before I finally took it out and used it for the first time. Then it took another six months to use it again.

I don’t mind cooking the slow traditional way, but I do understand the appeal of what the Instant Pot offers. I make Persian rice the traditional way, I don’t use a rice cooker.

I have not tried making yogurt in the Instant Pot, but I’ve heard rave reviews about how easy it is. I have an 8-quart slow cooker that does the job for our big family. All in all, I was a leary about the Instant Pot living up to all the hype.

The first time I made gormeh sabzi in my Instant Pot, I was pleasantly surprised. The flavor was good and I was happy to see that I could double my initial recipe and make enough gormeh sabzi for 8 big servings. But most importantly, it was ready to eat 90 minutes after I started.

Now true fans of this stew will argue that that gormeh sabzi should not be served the day it was made. That it tastes infinitely better after a day or two. I do agree with this fact: gormeh sabzi tastes even better the next day. But once my kids walk in the door from school and smell that distinct smell of gormeh sabzi, well, they won’t wait the next day.

After making this stew in the instant pot several times now, my finicky family is quite smitten with the results. My husband told me that the flavor is great despite the short cooking time. Would it taste even better the next day, of course!!

But I can’t deny how easy it was to make this stew in the Instant Pot. Especially when I turned it on to stew, left the house to pickup my carpool run, and return to see that the pressure valve was singing in my kitchen and the gormeh sabzi was nearly ready.

Now there’s the question of color of the Instant Pot gormeh sabzi.

Just like in other cultures, there is much debate on the right way to sauté the herbs for this dish. Some like to cook the herbs in a lot of oil for a long period of time, until the color of the herbs turns into a very dark green, sometimes near black.

Others swear by using DRIED herbs for this dish, which I personally think is a travesty. I’m sorry, but fresh is best.

Without the Instant Pot, I like to sauté my herbs before adding them to the stew, but I don’t cook them until they are nearly black. I swear the beautiful flavor of the herbs diminishes with this over cooking. And my guests swear that my gormeh sabzi is crazy good, so the results tell me everything.

For this recipe, I brown the meat, onions and vegetables using the Instant Pot. Even on high heat, I found that I got better results with my stove and pan. The deep Instant Pot honestly steams your food in sauté mode, especially with these ingredients and amounts.

You can totally do all of this over the stove top to get a hotter pan, but quite honestly, this defeats the purpose of using just one pot to do it all. I loved that I only had one pot to clean afterwards.

Are you baffled by your Instant Pot? Here are some great posts I’ve found that have helped me better bond with my Instant Pot:

So there you, my analysis of the Instant Pot and my recipe for Instant Pot Gormeh Sabzi. For those of you looking to create this iconic dish faster, the Instant Pot is definitely for you. I have another recipe for Khoreshteh Gormeh Sabzi on my blog, where I add kale to the mix. You can find that version here.

Stir in reserved white parts of the green onions and cook for another 2 minutes.

Stir in reserved green parts of the green onions and continue cooking.

Stir in chopped parsley and cilantro until well mixed.

Stir in fenugreek.

Carefully pierce dried limes with a sharp knife.

If you like your stew more on the sour lemony side, add 6 dried limes. If you don't know how you like it, start with two. You can add lemon juice later to adjust the flavor to your preference.

Add dried limes, broth and lemon juice (optional) to stew.

Place the lid on your instant pot, turn the vent to seal and set on meat/stew for 35 minutes.

Once the timer goes off and the stew is cooked, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. You can also let all the pressure release naturally if you have time.

Drain and rinse beans. Stir in kidney beans with the stew.

Place the lid on your instant pot, turn the vent to seal and set on warm for 15-30 minutes.